Matthew Goode insists Downton Abbey remark ‘was not meant to be derogatory’

Matthew Goode played the second husband of Michelle Dockery’s Lady Mary in Downton Abbey (Picture: AP)

Matthew Goode caused a stir among Downtonians earlier this month when he said something that might be perceived as a slight on his beloved Downton Abbey character Henry Talbot.

However, he has insisted that the comments he made were not intended ‘in a horribly derogatory way’.

The actor – who is currently starring in the new Netflix thriller Dept Q, out today – clarified his remarks in an exclusive interview with Metro.

Goode recently confirmed he will not be returning for the third film of Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey, having starred in the melodrama for two seasons.

Speaking to Radio Times, he quipped that his character, racing driver Henry Talbot and Lady Mary’s second husband, had become a ‘wet lettuce’, so it is probably for the best if he disappeared into the sunset.

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Addressing the wisecrack at Henry’s expense, Goode told Metro: ‘I didn’t mean it in a horribly derogatory way. I just meant actually, wouldn’t it be more exciting if [Lady Mary] didn’t need a man so she might end up on her own?

Goode confirmed that he will not be back as Henry in the third Downton Abbey film (Picture: Jaap Buitendijk/Focus/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)

‘Some people look up to her as a modern feminist or a pillar of modern feminism.’

While Goode never read the script for the third film, since he was working on the TV show The Offer, he suggested his own alternative ending for Lady Mary.

‘I would hope that, if she does have a happy ending, maybe one of her earlier suitors could come back and whisk her off,’ said the 47-year-old.

He then suggested perhaps Lady Mary’s ending could involve ‘something surprising other than good old Henry’.

So what does he think Henry is doing now? Replying without a beat: ‘Drinking, probably.’